Current Affairs Current Affairs : International : September -October 2009

October 9, 2009: Nobel Peace Prize to Barak Obama
US President Barack Obama was announced as the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.
The annual award’s committee bestowed the honor on Obama “for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.”

October 7, 2009: World record with 1,725-pound pumpkin!
A woman from Ohio has grown a 1,725-pound pumpkin. Hristy Harp, of Jackson Township, a maths teacher, aced the Ohio Valley Giant Pumpkin Growers’ annual weigh-off held last week in Canfield .

October 7, 2009: UN climate chief urges to Stay with Kyoto protocol
Mitigation of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by industrialised countries is at the heart of the Kyoto Protocol, an international treaty meant to tackle global warming that is being caused by the emissions. “The rich countries were “trying to dump the protocol because they have seen they cannot mitigate,” this is what UN climate chief Yvo de Boer has said recently.

Please note that India, China and other developing countries are strongly opposing Carbon Emission Mitigations.

October 7, 2009: India’s New Rank in Human Development Index 2009 : 134
Despite emerging as an economic superpower, India remains 134 among 182 countries in human development index (HDI) of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), thereby making no difference in the quality of life enjoyed by the country’s 1.1 billion people.
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October 7, 2009: Nobel prize Literature : Herta Müller
Herta Müller (German) has been announced Nobel prize Literature Winner for 2009
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October 7, 2009: Nobel Prize Physics
Charles Kao, Willard Boyle and George Smith, fathers of fibre optics and digital imaging, won the 2009 Nobel prize for physics .
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October 7, 2009: Nobel Prize Medicine
Elizabeth Blackburn, Carol Greider and Jack Szostak won the 2009 Nobel prize for medicine or physiology for for their work on chromosomes.
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October 7, 2009: Typhoon Parma & More
A powerful typhoon ” Parma” pummelled the north-eastern Philippines recently , cutting off power and communication in at least five provinces and killing dozens of people and affecting lives of millions of people
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October 7, 2009: Some facts From Recently released Reports of Food and Agriculture Organization
As per a UN Food and Agriculture Organization FAO (Headquarters -Rome, Established October 16, 1945, member 191) discussion paper published recently, climate change will have a severe impact on food security and this could lead to increased dependency of many developing countries on food imports.
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October 7, 2009: World Bank-IMF meetings at Istambul
The annual meeting of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund was formally concluded recently (7.9.09) at Istanbul with an appeal to nations to pursue reforms while dealing with the global economic crisis.
The next two annual IMF-World Bank meetings will be held at their headquarters in Washington DC before then meeting in Egypt in 2012.

October 6, 2009: One-third of world’s child brides from India says a UNICEF Report
As per a latest UNICEF report more than one third of the world’s child brides are from India. Some facts:

  1. Nearly 25 million women in India were married in the year 2007 by the age of 18.
  2. Children in India, Nepal and Pakistan may be engaged or even married before they turned 10.
  3. Despite rising literacy levels and a ban on child marriage, tradition and religious practices are keeping the custom alive in India, as well as in Nepal and Pakistan.
  4. More than 50% of world’s child brides are in south Asia.
  5. This leaves children beyond the reach and protection of state services and unable to attend school or access basic healthcare.
  6. A 44 million, or 13 percent of all children in south Asia, are engaged in labour, with more than half in India.

October 5, 2009: Japan & China proposed ‘East Asian Community’ similar to EU
Recently Japan and China have sent shockwaves around the world by proposing to create an “East Asian Community,” very much similar to the European Union. This comunity could make a fierce force to reckon with and improve economic and political relationships in the region. The community would involve visa-free travel, public health, energy and the environment.

Some facts:

  • Japan is world’s second largest economy, China is third.
  • If India also joins hands with It will be able to become a big force in future.
  • The talks are in primitive stage. The proposal will again be on the agenda when the leaders of Japan, China and South Korea will meet in Beijing on October 10.
  • The proposal was put forward by Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama to Chinese President Hu Jintao during their first meeting, in New York on

October 4, 2009: Report on “Possible Military Dimensions of Iran’s Nuclear Program”
Recently a report was released by International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) with the title “Possible Military Dimensions of Iran’s Nuclear Program” which says that Iran has acquired sufficient information to be able to design and produce a workable atom bomb. This said that a a complex program was apparantly began in 2002, by Iran’s Defense Ministry with an aim to develop a nuclear payload to be delivered using the Shahab 3 missile system. However two years back, American intelligence agencies published a detailed report concluding that Tehran halted its efforts to design a nuclear weapon in 2003.

October 3, 2009 : Largest IPO of Bangladesh
Grameenphone is Bangladesh’s telecom major. It recently launched largest initial public offering (IPO) of the country with a hope to raise Taka 4.8 billion ($80 million approximately) from the domestic market.

About Grameenphone:

  • Grameenphone or GP is the leading telecommunications service provider in Bangladesh which had than 20 million subscribers as of June 2008.
  • It is a joint venture enterprise between Telenor and Grameen Telecom Corporation, a non-profit sister concern of the internationally acclaimed microfinance organization and community development bank Grameen Bank.
  • Telenor, the largest telecommunications company in Norway, owns 62% shares of grameenphone and Grameen Telecom owns the remaining 38%.
  • Grameen Bank (& Grameenphone) was pioneered by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus. Muhammad Yunus before pioneering Grameenbank was a professor of economics where he developed the concept of microcredit. In 2006, Yunus and the Grameenbank were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, “for their efforts to create economic and social development from below.”

September 11, 2009 : 1.2 million children Killed by Pneumonia Every Year
A research was published recently which said that 1.2 children under the age of 5 die every year around the world from two pneumonia-causing diseases Streptococcus pneumoniae and Haemophilus influenzae B or Hib which could be easily prevented with vaccines.

Reason:

  • Safe and effective vaccines exist for both of the above strains however use of Hib vaccine has only recently expanded to low-income countries and pneumococcal vaccine is not included in national immunization programs in the developing world.
  • About Pneumonia: Pneumonia is an inflammatory illness of the lung also known as as lung parenchyma/alveolar inflammation and abnormal alveolar filling with fluid.

September 11, 2009 : Life in Jail for Taiwan ex-president, wife
Former Taiwan president Chen Shui-bian has been found guilty of corruption on Friday and sentenced to life in prison. he was two times president of Taiwan and was convicted for six charges related to bribery and corruption. The case is 3 years old and involves his wife ans some close people.

Prosecutors had charged Chen with embezzling T$104 million ($3.185 million) from a special presidential office fund, accepting bribes of about $9 million related to a land procurement deal and taking another $2.73 million in kickbacks to help a contractor win its bid for a government project.
September 12, 2009: Cuba revolution commander Juan Almeida dead
Juan Almeida, who dies recently at the age of 82 was one of the original leaders of the Cuban revolution. He was current vice president of Cuba.

About Cuban Revolution:

  • The Cuban Revolution was an armed revolt that led to the overthrow of U.S.-backed dictator Fulgencio Batista of Cuba on January 1, 1959 by the 26th of July Movement led by Fidel Castro.
  • Almeida was at the side of Fidel and Raul Castro from the earliest days of the revolution and was the only black commander in the leadership.
  • Fidel Castro took power after the rebels toppled dictator Fulgencio Batista on Jan. 1, 1959, and ruled until Raul Castro succeeded him as president last year.

with inputs from various newspapers

The above 5 questions are part of Daily Current Affairs 20 MCQs Series in GKToday Android Application. This series can be subscribed in the app only for Rs. 799/- for entire year. Download Now

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11 Comments

  1. P

    October 9, 2009 at 6:14 am

    Note – Hillary Mantel got Man Booker Prize for "Wolf hall"

  2. Anonymous

    October 9, 2009 at 9:58 pm

    Indira Gandhi Peace Prize to Mohammad ElBaradei , Director General of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on 1 oct 2009.

  3. Anonymous

    October 10, 2009 at 1:09 am

    thanks a lot for such a precious knowledge

  4. P

    October 10, 2009 at 4:09 am

    Arey haan yaar…… twas Mohammed El Baradei :)…… chalo ab to hamesha yaad rahega :)

  5. Anonymous

    October 10, 2009 at 8:48 am

    Thanks a lot…It is very useful for bank exams
    This GK today knowledge is enough for bank exams…Any body can answer

  6. Anonymous

    October 11, 2009 at 1:02 pm

    guys please confirm..its Bill Gates getting indira gandhi peace prize 2009.. Mohammed ElBaradei got it for year 2008…

  7. Anonymous

    October 11, 2009 at 8:20 pm

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indira_Gandhi_Prize

    chk it out for year 2009 wimmer ??

  8. Anonymous

    October 16, 2009 at 6:35 am

    no..its Mohd.ElBaradei for year 2009…

  9. Vikas tomer

    November 11, 2009 at 8:02 am

    dosto any technique for remembering the names,we often forgot them

  10. [email protected]

    September 16, 2010 at 3:31 am

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